JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Another preseason game is in the books, and that means another chance for us to look at The Good and The Not So Good.

So, what were the highs and the lows of the Jaguars' preseason loss to the Carolina Panthers? We break it all down below.

The Good

Liam Coen's Decision to Rest Starters

Sometimes, the easy choice is the right one. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen indicated early in the week that the Jaguars starters might play a bit against the Panthers, but he seemed to reverse course after joint practice on Wednesday and then officially kept the starters off the field once kickoff came around on Friday night.

Considering some of the senseless injuries that happen in the preseason, this is the only decision Coen could really make. Not all teams are wise enough to keep their starters out of pointless games for the sake of reps that, ultimately, do not count, but Coen and the Jaguars made the right call with their squad

Early Stop

Outside of one of Ventrell Miller/Branson Combs, the Jaguars' first defense on Friday night did not have a single starter on it. Add in the fact that they were going against the Panthers' starting offense from Wednesday's joint practices, including quarterback Bryce Young and star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, and the Jaguars' defense had a big test to start the game. While they did eventually give up a touchdown to the Panthers on the second drive of the game, the first drive was extremely encouraging from the Jaguars' group of backups.

After Combs was able to register a quarterback hit on the first third-down the Jaguars saw, Jacksonville was able to get the Panthers off the field after just four plays and nine yards. Combs was hit for a defensive pass interference at the start of the drive after he was matched up with McMillan, but he got a pressure against the Panthers' best on third-down and the Jaguars' backup defense got an early win against the Panthers' top unit.

As far as preseason wins go, that is a significant one. The Jaguars' defense let Carolina have some big plays during joint practices earlier in the week, but they came out to play on Friday night.

Ameer Abdullah

If there is any player who really popped on Friday, it was veteran running back Ameer Abdullah. We have said all training camp that Abdullah has consistently made plays and has established himself as the Jaguars' RB4, and he got a big chance to show what he can do with extended run on Friday. He played the first half, recording six carries for 45 yards and three catches for 37 yards, making him one of the game's most productive players.

With the Jaguars dealing with a LeQuint Allen injury for at least the rest of training camp, Abdullah makes the most sense to get a bump up on the depth chart. With performances like the one on Friday, where he had a 23-yard carry and a nice 18-yard catch-and-run in the passing game, Abdullah could be playing himself onto the 53-man roster depending on the status of Allen come Week 1.

The Not So Good

DeeJay Dallas

DeeJay Dallas was already fighting an uphill climb when it came to the Jaguars' roster configuration, and it is tough to say that Friday night helped his case. Abdullah has already leaped him on the depth chart and then played well against the Panthers, undrafted rookie running back J'Mari Taylor has flashed at times, and it could be hard to see Dallas with a role even on the practice squad as a result.

When a player is facing those kind of odds entering the middle of the preseason, they can't afford to make many mistakes. That is exactly what Dallas did on the first drive of the second half however, fumbling a handoff that the Panthers recovered to end a Jaguars drive early. Dallas does not have much margin for error, and this was a tough blunder to overlook.

Carter Bradley

Friday night was a rough outing for backup quarterback Carter Bradley. The context is required of course that he was playing behind the Jaguars' third-team offensive line, but Bradley's final numbers read as follows: 6-of-13 passing (46.2% completion) for 51 yards and an interception. This gave him just 3.9 yards per attempt compared to 9.3 from Nick Mullens earlier in the night.

Bradley has some interesting traits as a developmental quartrback, but I got the sense from the fan base last week that they wanted to see him push Mullens as the QB2. I never thought this would actually happen, and Friday night was another example of why. Mullens, even for his own faults, is simply on a different level right now than Bradley, who still has to pove he is a better option than Joey Aguilar for the practice squad quarterback spot.

The Lack of Big Plays

Friday just felt flat for the Jaguars. That is going to happen when you sit the best players on the team for the entirety of the game, but even the Jaguars' backups failed to make the kind of plays that the Panthers' backups made. The Jaguars did not record a single pass-breakup despite the Panthers dropping back more than 35 times, and the lack of turnovers that seemed to irk Liam Coen carried over to Friday.

Just because the Jaguars' starters didn't play doesn't mean the field was completely lacking conttributors. But a secondary that had Caleb Ransaw, Jalen Huskey, Jabbar Muhammad, and Christian Braswell playing for long stretches was not able to make a play all game, which is a bit concerning when it comes to the Jaguars' depth.